Tradition: Canadian Mythology
Alternative Names: Amayuryuk, Amayuruk, Amayujuk, Amarajuk, Amajurjuk, Amautalik, Amayuq, Amautalik (Amayuryuk)
Category: Giant
The Myth
Amayuryuk is a giant woman in Canadian Inuit folklore who kidnaps children and carries them away in a large pouch on her back. She is described as wearing an amauti, a traditional Inuit woman’s garment designed to carry a child. In some accounts, the pouch is not part of her clothing but is formed from driftwood or driftwood-like material. Her enormous size and fearsome appearance make her a frightening figure in Inuit stories, where she is said to steal children and take them far from their homes.
In Inuit accounts recorded in the Kivalliq region, Amayuryuk is also known as Amautalik. She is described as a giantess living inland, sometimes in a large amaut or pouch. According to one account, she places people she has stolen inside this pouch and carries them away. Her immense size is emphasized in stories that describe her as so large that adults can look like small children beside her. Other accounts portray her as a terrifying old woman whose presence frightens children into behaving, warning them that she will take them away if they misbehave.
Although Amayuryuk is said to have once kidnapped children and appeared near human settlements, some traditions hold that such creatures no longer steal children or approach human dwellings. Nevertheless, reports of encounters persisted into modern times. In 1999, a resident of Rankin Inlet in Nunavut reportedly claimed to have seen an enormous woman wearing an amauti made of caribou hide. The account describes her as having a pouch on her back and approaching a person before disappearing. Amayuryuk is sometimes compared with the Qalupalik of Inuit folklore and the Dzunukwa of the mythology of the Canadian Kwakwaka’wakw people, both of whom are associated with taking children.
Sources
“Amajuruq.” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). https://www.bestiary.us/amajurjuk
